FROM THE PASTOR
A Pray for the Peace
Like people across the globe, I am troubled and haunted by the violence, suffering and death in Israel and Gaza. This hits me hard because I have been to Israel and Palestine five times, have listened as Palestinian and Israeli leaders and everyday people have shared their hopes, despair, experiences, anger, compassion, loss, and humanity amid ongoing conflict and tension. I kept a journal on the visit I made in 2003 as part of a delegation with ELCA’s presiding Bishop, Mark Hanson, and Lutheran bishop in Palestine Mounib Younan. We were there as the “Roadmap For Peace” was being considered by Israeli and Palestinian leaders. We met with the President of Israel and Mayor of Jerusalem, Yasir Arafat and Palestinian President Mohammed Abas, and many other religious and political leaders. I will share a couple of journal entries from the trip to hopefully share some perspective on the human element of this protracted conflict and suffering.
Shabbat
“The sun on the treetops no longer is seen, come gather to welcome the Sabbath, our queen. Behold her descending, the holy, the blessed, and with her the angels of peace and of rest. Draw near, O queen, and here abide, draw near, draw near, O Sabbath bride. Peace be unto you. O angels of peace.” (Cham Nachman Bralik)
Sabbath in Jerusalem is a graceful thing. Traffic thins out, businesses close. There is an air of intimate tranquility as families and friends spend time together. Our delegation joined Rabbi Michael Rosen and his family and friends for Sabbath dinner in a West Jerusalem hotel. Bishop Younan’s wife, Souad, and Rabbi Rosen’s wife were classmates at Hebrew University and are long time friends. We shared in the Sabbath prayers, sang songs, scripture readings, and engaged in fascinating conversation about the current troubles in the Holy Land. Rabbi Rosen is a very prominent orthodox rabbi originally from England, who is a leader of “Rabbis for Human Rights.” One conversation next to me went like this:
Mounib Younan’s teenage daughter, “I hate this occupation. I don’t want to live in a prison.”
A Jewish woman (a settler) replies, “We don’t want to fear our children will be killed by suicide bombers.”
There was much love between these Israelis and Palestinians. The affection was genuine. But they seemed unable to really understand the primal feelings of the other. Political conversation emanated from each defended space. The evening closed with a beautiful song, composed by a Hungarian girl who had died in the holocaust:
“”O Lord, my God, I pray that these things never end: the sand and the sea, the rush of the waters, the crash of the heavens, the prayer of man.” (Hannah Szenes)
A full first day. I turn on the TV in my hotel room. I hear the news that Sharon has accepted the Roadmap for Peace. I see, in BBC, Michael Arazi, a Palestinian leader of the negotiation team, still dressed in the same shirt and tie he was wearing at Augusta Victoria Hospital when we met with him, speak of his guarded hope for peace.
Home
The wing of the plane tips low toward the jumble of Tel Aviv and the blue Mediterranean. Down there are the refugee camps and schools and hospitals we had visited. Busses and cars move like tiny ants. Friday prayers on the temple mount at El Aqsa Mosque will begin in a few hours, then in the evening Sabbath will again approach the faithful as a lover. On Sunday morning the bells of Redeemer will again ring out in the old city. The rocks and hills and living stones begin to disappear. The intensely local recedes, dissolves into a birds eye view. Below us now is only the water as we climb up and away from the Holy Land. As the engines drone, hurtling me toward the holy land of New York I pray this psalm:
“: “May they prosper who love you. Peace be within your walls, and security within your Pray for the peace of Jerusalem towers. For the sake of my relatives and friends I will say, “Peace be within you.” For the sake of the house of the Lord our God I will seek your good.” (Psalm 122: 6-9)
Stephen Paul Bouman
New York: June 22, 2003
